Podcast

• July 11, 2025Podcast

  Kerr County Flood Response

  This week on the Disaster Podcast, we talk about the recent response to flooding in Kerr County, Texas. With more than a hundred confirmed dead and over a hundred people […]

• June 29, 2025Podcast

  Planning for and Mitigating Disaster Effects with Global Guardian

  Chuck Costanza joins the Disaster Podcast team tonight. He's the Vice President of Client Engagement for Global Guardian. They provide global threat assessments for companies, helping them protect their employees from the effects of things like major disasters.

• June 16, 2025Podcast

  Dan Zehner From NHERI on The Past Year’s Disaster Data

  Dan Zehner from the U.S. National Science Foundation's NHERI returns to the podcast this week. He talks about some of the key reports generated by their institutions in the past year. One particular StEER report on Hurricane Milton showed a huge dataset collected about the storm and its impact on homes and other infrastructure along the storm's path.

• May 23, 2025Podcast

  National Weather Service Staffing Cuts and Disaster Weather Alerts

  We asked Thomas Di Liberto, meteorologist, climatologist, and former NOAA employee on the show to discuss recent changes in National Weather Service staffing. Do the changes made in the name of government efficiency lead to risks in accurate weather prediction and disaster weather alerts? We discuss this on the show this week with the team.

• May 16, 2025Podcast

  AEDs In Public Spaces with DiPietro and Associates

  David DiPietro was a former Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer and eventually an instructor for community operations and personnel. He later founded DiPietro and Associates, a medical equipment business, including the distribution of AEDs. Kelsey Treat, David's daughter, now runs the company's sales and operations while Dave focuses on new business opportunities.

• May 9, 2025Podcast

  Disaster Medical Solutions with Vincent Johnson

  We are joined this week by former FDNY firefighter/paramedic Vincent Johnson. Vinnie comes to us from Disaster Medical Solutions and a former FEMA USAR team in New York. He and Dr. Joe Holley share information about USAR medical specialist operations training for USAR docs and paramedics.

• May 5, 2025Podcast

  Emergency Management Professionals Gather

  In this episode we talk about a conference a few months back that was attended by both Becky DePodwin and Kyle Nelson. Becky is our Emergency Management disaster expert and Kyle has experience in meteorological issues and is also an educator for emergency managers on social media use and information management during disasters and major events.

• April 18, 2025Podcast

  Training and Deployment of USAR Dogs with Kimberly Holley

  This week we take a look at what it takes to train and deploy with USAR dogs during disasters. Dr. Joe Holley's better half, Kimberly comes by to talk about her work with the FEMA team from Memphis, Tennessee. She currently had two trained dogs (one live find dog and a human remains detection dog), Kimberly is currently training a third for live search and rescue. 

• April 11, 2025Podcast

  More Severe Weather Strikes Midwest and Southeast

  Our resident meteorologist and disaster emergency management expert, Becky DePodwin, shares her take on the preparedness challenges when a broad weather front crosses the nation. Many states are dealing with severe rain, winds, and flooding that have caused more than a dozen deaths. In fact, the month of March was the windiest on record.

• April 5, 2025Podcast

  Bright Harbor On Recovery After Disasters

  Gavin Blair, COO of Bright Harbor, joins the rest of the podcast team tonight. He discusses the unique challenges people face in the aftermath of disaster. Whether it's knowing the best way to file with your insurance company, or how to navigate the FEMA bureaucracy, having an advocate in your corner can be a game-changer.